


The Only Hope

by LittlexNightingale



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love Confessions, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 07:19:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9112414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittlexNightingale/pseuds/LittlexNightingale
Summary: Raelin knows that at any second the one she cares for the most could be taken from her unexpectedly. But does Chris know how she feels?





	

A long, warm bath was exactly what she needed to help her relax after such a long day of working out.

Raelin gave a pleasant sigh of relief when the steaming water submerged her body. The tub in which she was sitting in was small, but was enough to coax the soreness in her muscles and wash away all the dirt and sweat from the gym. All of that was soon replaced by the sweet smell of strawberries radiating off her clean hair. It was the only thing she had come to love since moving to the United States from France. Well, all except for him.

"He is just a man. If I let him close to me, he could easily break my heart," she said to herself, turning the thought over and over in her head. She tried to imagine herself with her heart broken in a pile of tissues and ice cream cartons like the girls from all those American romance movies her friend always drug her to see, but she couldn't picture herself crying over something like that.

Raelin sighed, brushing off the pain she felt in the pit of her stomach. Pain that began to feel more like worry to her. "I shouldn’t cry, because I know that love doesn't last forever."

That was what she kept telling herself at least. Because the last time she shed a tear for anything, it was because her friend died.

He was with them all the way to the end, fighting against Neo Umbrella to save the world from bio-terrorism. His life was exchanged for the safety of mankind and for the sake of the B.S.A.A and his captain.

Chris was forced to watch him die, much like she was, but he didn't cry. Raelin poured her heart out, in his captain's arms, screaming his name, reaching out for him in hopes that he could take her hand and come with them, but he didn't and he died there in that underwater facility for the sake of Chris and herself.

Even as she told herself she wouldn't cry again, not for sappy romance stories or even for the pain of her heart being ripped to shreds, she couldn't help but to think that if it had been Chris instead of Piers that died for her, she would have never stopped crying. That one thought refused to let Raelin close her heart off to him. She loved Chris and it took Piers dying to help her realize it.

Once every week, on a Wednesday for six hours, Chris and she spent time together. Sometimes they went out, most of the time they called in take-out and ate in silence at Raelin's apartment. They didn't share their feelings for one another, the same way most couples did. They never held hands. Most of all they never kissed.

"He is just a man. Even so I love him, and I have to tell him before I lose him for good." Raelin said to herself. She still wanted to show Chris how much she needed him, and how much he was missing. She watched him sit his life away behind his phone, searching for bio-terrorism across the globe. How long would it be before he went away and never returned?

"Raelin?!" Chris asked behind the door. His voice was horsed, tired-like. He sounded rundown and lifeless as opposed to the energy that use to flow through his voice. She knew better than to believe him when he told her he was doing alright. Raelin had her doubts. One of the reasons why was because she too was feeling under the weather.

"What's the matter?" Raelin asked.

"It's already six so I called in the take-out. It will be here any moment now." Already six. They didn't have long left together.

He paused, waiting for Raelin to make any kind of comment about the food, about anything. Raelin couldn't think of what to say. She found herself searching her thoughts for something, but she couldn't think of a single thing. Things would be easier if she could just say what was on the tip of her tongue.

Raelin shifted, reaching out of the tub for the towel she left on the floor. She fit it around her, leaving the tub full of water, feeling the cold air sting at her skin as she hastily reached for the door knob to swing it open. She knew what she had to tell him. All she had to do was open the door and shout it out. The door was flung open and she stepped out into the living area, reaching for him. He was so close, just beyond her reach, just a little more.

Raelin stopped, fingers barely an inch away from Chris's arm. Her foot hurt, and when she looked down to the floor, she noticed blood leaking into the carpet. Blood, she remembered blood. Standing in the carnage of dead bodies with a gun in her hand. When she picked up her first gun as a part of the National Gendarmerie she swore she would never kill another person just so she didn't have to see that dreaded color. However, every place she went after that was racked with death. Bio-terrorism was the reason she killed so many people, whether they be zombies or not.

_'It's blood. I'm seeing my own blood,'_ she thought dryly, remembering the faces of people she shot down. She looked up at Chris, the broken bottle he held in his hand, and finally to the floor again. Tiny shards of glass must have punctured the bottom of her foot.

"Are you alright?" Chris asked a little worried.

"I'm fine," Raelin answered. "How did this happen?" She watched Chris set the broken bottle down on the counter, then bend to his knees to examine her injured foot. She had to use his shoulders just to keep her balance from falling onto him.

"I was trying to open some wine for us and broke the bottle. Your foot is alright but we should try to get the shard out."

"But the blood is everywhere. We should stop the bleeding first."

"Let's move you to the couch then," Chris suggested.

"Can you help me?" Raelin asked, wincing at the pain. She went to wrap her arm around Chris's shoulders but he slipped an arm beneath her legs and picked her up, holding her up with the other. It was amazing how small Raelin felt when she was in his arms.

He carried her over to the couch and sat her down with her back against the arm of the chair, then walked off towards the kitchen. When he returned moments later, he handed her a glass of wine and propped her bleeding foot on his leg. He had beside him a small bowl of different items Raelin had lying around her apartment.

"The wine is still good. None of the glass got into the bottle," Chris said, keeping his attention on her foot. He washed his hands with a small bar of lavender soap, then began cleaning away the blood around the wound. It made Raelin flinch and clutch the glass of wine tightly in her hand.

She swallowed some of it down. The bitter taste made her cringe and pucker her lips as if she was sucking on a lemon. It was odd for her to worry but she knew a little wine wouldn't stop her foot from hurting once he dug the tweezers beneath her skin. She wanted to hurry up and get rid of the blood before it stained more of her carpet than it already had. Just seeing the tiny red liquid on her floor aggravated her. Why was it that blood had to be so damn hard to get rid of?

Her blood was now on the hand towel she used to wash the dishes, as Chris cleaned off the soap and excess blood. He laid the towel down and from the small bowl he took out a pair of tweezers and a sewing needle that reeked of rubbing alcohol.

"Just bear with me for a few minutes. I'm not good at this kind of thing. Piers was usually the one who saved my sorry ass when I was injured, " Chris whispered, laughing just a little.

Raelin looked unsure for a moment, but more importantly she didn't want to talk about Piers. "Chris!" She sent an angry glance in his direction. "Please just hurry. This position isn't exactly comfortable."

Chris's jaw stiffened, his eyes falling back to Raelin's injured foot. "I'll hurry."

He rubbed the needle flat across the wound and watched Raelin carefully to see if she would flinch or not but she didn't, just a thin line of displeasure crossed her face. Taking the tweezers, he managed to locate the sliver of glass and pull it from her foot, tossing both the shard and the tweezers into the bowl with the rubbing alcohol. Finally, he applied an antibiotic ointment to the wound and covered it with a small bandage. "How does it feel?"

Raelin's brow rose. "It's hard to believe all that blood came from just a small sliver of glass, but the pain has eased and at least the blood is gone. I'll give you a B for presentation."

"I at least should get an A. I had you begging for help back there," Chris stated. He groaned as Raelin kicked him in the shoulder with her injured foot, having to raise it about midways just to hit him; the towel sliding off her long legs and upper thighs. Chris turned his head, having seen beneath the towel and politely cleared his throat to alert her. She sat up with her knees positioned in front of her and her feet on the floor, a smirk gracing her lips.

"I'll go and get dressed," she spoke.

Only an hour left to tell him now.

* * *

 

She couldn't say what she needed to. The words stayed on the tip of her tongue as she cuddled closer to him on the couch, her arms laced with his only free arm. With the other he searched the database he worked with in case of an unexpected attack. The chances seemed unlikely. Still Raelin was waiting for the call that would whisk him away.

She moved away from the couch and stood next to the TV where a small shelf of movies sat behind a glass case. Most of them were American films that her friend forced her to watch, while others were comedy flicks from around the world. Raelin picked a British comedy involving zombies called, Shaun of the Dead and put it inside the DVD player, then reclaimed her seat next to Chris. She let the DVD play through half of the previews before she pressed skip, laughing at the root menu once it came up.

"Have you seen this one before?" she asked, averting her attention over to Chris. She quietly hummed the theme song under her breath for a moment. "It's a parody of your American film, Dawn of the Dead I believe. I've not seen that one, but it's what I've been told."

"I can't say I have," Chris answered. He resumed searching his phone.

"Oh, I can't imagine why," Raelin retorted quietly.

She was aggravated. It was clear with the way she seethed under her breath. The things she wanted to say just vanished before her eyes, giving her no interest in seeing the man to her left or having anything to do with him in the least. She wanted rid of him and at the same time she wanted him to be closer to her like in all the sappy romance flicks she had ever seen.

Fairy tales and nursery rhymes of sweet damsels in distress being saved from castles guarded by dragons or revived by prince charming after eating a poison apple were bullshit. There was no magic in a reality driven by secrets and war. The idea of Raelin's life as a fairy tale was itself a fairy tale, one that showed her as a blood-stained heroine in love with a charming soldier that could never put down his gun. Then again, there was never a time before were Raelin could put down her gun either.

She could have left the mercenaries anytime she wanted to and retired with a heavy sum of cash under her belt, but she couldn't find a reason as to why she should stop killing. Money and the thrill of scrubbing the world of vermin such as Derek C. Simmons and others became her motive to fight. She soon found a reason to stop though. That reason was sitting to left of her, clad in an annoying turtle neck sweater with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.

"I can't imagine how hot you must be in that sweater. It's at least 70 in here," Raelin mentioned with a sigh.

"This isn't about my sweater, is it?"

Raelin appeared to be startled, her glossy lips parting as she tried to say something but Chris's snickering interrupted her. He barely smiled as if he was trying to assure her of something but she brushed it off as his way of keeping her from talking about his clothing for the remainder of the night and pouted her lips.

"Are you trying to imply something?" she asked.

"Only that you don't look very comfortable around me tonight," Chris answered truthfully.

She felt appalled. All this time it appeared Chris was the one being distant with her but it was the other way around. Raelin had been thinking of ways to work her way into Chris's busy schedule but all she needed to do was be herself. If that were the case, even though she didn't quite understand it all, she stood up, taking with her a small pillow from the couch and brought it into the air, high above her head, then forcefully brought it down on the top of the man's head.

"Raelin, what are you-"

She interrupted Chris by bending to her knees to push the small table located in the middle of her living area up against the TV. Items that were lying around on the floor, such as her game stations and other small belongings she shoved to the side, clearing an area between the couch and the entertainment center. The flat-heeled shoes she had beside the couch she quickly slipped on. Afterwards she turned back to face the puzzled man, who was looking around the cleared area with a sneer on his face.

"Get up," Raelin ordered, stretching her arms above her head. When she finished limbering up she waited in front of Chris until he stood to his feet, standing in the area just to the left of her. She raised her hands and clinched them into a fist, taking a familiar fighting stance. "If you don't attack me first then I'll strike you down."

"What is this about?" he tried to ask.

Raelin gave him no room to question her. She stepped forward and swung her leg around in a semicircular motion, striking Chris in the ribs with the front of her leg. He dropped to one knee and grabbed his side, glaring up at Raelin, who in all seriousness wasn't laughing. She didn't wait for him to rise and aimed a straight-lined kick for his sternum, knocking him onto his back.

"Get up and fight me," Raelin ordered.

Chris pulled himself to his feet, straining to catch his breath while holding back the pain he felt in his chest and side. He clutched his fists together and stood his ground, waiting for Raelin's next line of attack. At last she put down her extended leg, stepped forward and brought her right arm back, throwing all her weight into a jab aimed at Chris's head, but he quickly caught it, tossing Raelin off track and stumbling forward. She crashed into his chest, unable to kick or punch him before he took her arm and spun her around to lock her in a choke hold.

Raelin attempted to push all her weight into a messy sidestep at the last moment before she was caught, hook kicking him in the side, to which caused Chris to release her hand but sent her crashing into the TV. Chris remained standing, holding his injured side while Raelin caught herself from doubling over again. Once again, she threw all her weight into a punch and uppercut Chris in the stomach, sending him once again to his knees. Raelin took a moment to catch her breath, keeping her hand directly over her heart.

Before she realized it, Chris preformed a double leg take down and knocked Raelin flat on her back, using his hip to keep her pinned to the floor.

"Now knock it off," he hissed in annoyance. He struggled to keep his breath. "You better start talking and tell me what the hell this was all about."

"I didn't have a reason," Raelin admitted.

"Start talking."

His eyes threatened to know the motives behind her sudden actions that made her lash out at him when she normally sat aside and remained quiet when he was around. She presented herself so subtle and carefree most of the time, that it was odd for Chris to see her so worked up about something he wasn't sure he had done, if that was the reason at all.

Raelin used her remaining strength to push him off her and regained a sitting position on her knees, digging her fingers into the fabric of her faded jeans. "Your so damn focused on everything but me and it's infuriating," she finally said. Tears burned at her eyes.

"When Piers died, I realized how much the B.S.A.A meant to you. They were not a team, but a family, so when you resumed your captain position I knew you would never allow another one of them to die under your watch and I just didn't want to wake up and find out that you died playing hero. I can't take that kind of heartache-"

Her emotional outburst was shut out by Chris's finger over the top of her lips. He quietly shushed her, gaining an opportunity to slide in and press his lips over hers once she tried to say something in rebuke. She slowly taunted him, taking his lower lip between her own and gently tugging on it, cautiously running her tongue over his lips playfully to indulge him into giving her just what she wanted. His hands took to her back, easily keeping his weight off her as he laid her against the floor.

Between slipping her legs around his waist and tussling to remove the sweater from his upper body, the kiss grew deep, divulging into something more heated with Raelin digging her nails into Chris's skin as he bit and prodded at the area around her neck. She panted, holding her desire to moan out and call his name just to feel him shiver. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, while she tightened her grasp in his hair. The warmth of his body easily drove her to pull him closer.

He groaned feeling her hips grind against his and was forced to relinquish her neck as she fought to unclasp the belt around his waist. She heard the thump of this phone as it hit the floor near her upper thigh and resumed pulling the jeans down to his lower legs. Chris on the other hand easily reclaimed Raelin's mouth, forcefully playing with her tongue, gently sucking on it to make her moan. Each nearly had the other completely unclothed, abandoning the pieces of fabric somewhere on floor around when the phone beneath them began to go off.

Raelin arched forward, shoving her hips into Chris, who groaned and pulled back to see why she had jumped. The vibration slowly tingled against her thigh forcing her to curl her fingers tightly in Chris's hair. "C-Chris, your cell phone," she struggled to say. "Please get it."

Chris reached beneath himself to the area around Raelin's thigh and retrieved the phone, glancing at the screen to see the number that was displayed on the front.

"It's Kennedy," he said, sounding annoyed. He gently rolled off Raelin and laid on his back next to her on the floor. She slid over and faced him, using his arm to lay her head on.

"What does he want?" she asked. Chris read over the message and grinned. A part of him wanted to crush the dreaded device but he refrained from doing so and tossed the phone on the floor, taking his hand down the front of his face with annoyance.

"He didn't want a damn thing. Just to know where that friend of your friend is."

Raelin began to laugh. Blocked by Kennedy, but oh would he see hell the next time Raelin ran across him. Chris shook his head, trying his best to hold back the fountain of curses he was about to release on the unexpected agent. Raelin just cuddled closer to him with a smile.

_'I'll wait till later to tell you that I can't live without you,'_ she thought proudly. _'Besides, you're the only hope to saving me now.'_

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the bad writing in this One-Shot, if it was not up to standards. I wrote this short work a while back for fun and didn't intent to post it, but I thought as my introduction to the archive, I might as well. Thank you for reading.
> 
> Sweet Dreams,  
> Nightingale


End file.
